Guns of Fort Caswell During the Civil War

Guns of Fort Caswell During the Civil War. . The artillery pieces kept at Fort Caswell during the Civil War changed over time during the war. What was here depended on what was available, and what was needed at different locations, with some pieces being exchanged between defensive points along the Cape Fear. Our best indicator of what cannons were here comes from a list dated August 1, 1864 and titled: List of Ordnance of the forts and Batteries and Light Batteries in the Command Defenses Mouth of Cape Fear River. , The graphic below shows how many of each type of gun was recorded at Caswell as of Aug. 1864. They are illustrated to scale, with the 150-pdr Armstrong Rifle being the largest piece at Fort Caswell. , 10-inch Columbiad (6) . 1X-inch Dahlgren (1) . 8-inch Columbiad (4) . 150-pdr Armstrong Rifle (1) . Rifled and Banded 32-pdr (4) . 24-pdr Smoothbore (3) . 20-pdr Parrott Rifle (1) , A Tale of Two Armstrongs , Perhaps the most famous guns to guard the Cape Fear River were the pair of Armstrong 8-inch, 150-pdr rifles that were gifted to the Confederates by British sympathizers. One went to Fort Fisher at New Inlet, and one here at Old Inlet. The quality of the craftmanship and materials, such as the teak and mahogany carriages, led one soldier to compare them to parlor furniture, and both were highly prized. , Despite having a 3.5 mile effective range and 5 mile maximum range with its 400-lb projectiles, the gun was limited in its usefulness during the battles at Fort Fisher, due to a lack of its very specialized ammunition. Following the capture of Fort Fisher and abandonment of Fort Caswell, Fisher's Armstrong was taken by the Army to Trophy Point at West Point, New York, where it is still on display. Fort Caswell's gun was taken by the Navy and used for training in a practice battery for the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It is believed have been scrapped during world war two for its metal. , [Captions (left to right)] Fort Caswell's Armstrong, No. 1208, during its time at the Naval Academy. . Fort Fisher's Armstrong, No. 1207, shortly after the capture of the fort. , Effective Gun Ranges Armstrong 3.5 miles . 10-inch Columbiad: 3.21 miles . 8-inch Columbiad: 2.73 miles . 9-inch Dahlgren: 1.9 miles . 32-pdr and 20-pdr Parrot Rifle: 1.1 miles . 24-pdr: 1 mile